Woman killed in savage axe attack - Daughter hospitalised after home invasion
Published:Tuesday | January 28, 2020 | 12:20 AMAndre Williams/Staff Reporter
A woman was slaughtered with an axe and set ablaze while her daughter, who tried to come to her defence, is now hospitalised following an invasion of their Red Hills Road home yesterday.
The St Andrew North police have launched a manhunt for the suspect, who is known to the family and law enforcers.
The dead woman has been identified as 57-year-old Cecilia Robinson-Lawrence.
The Gleaner understands that her daughter was hospitalised with blunt trauma to her head after she, too, was hit unconscious with the axe.
Reports are that shortly before midday Monday, an eyewitness saw smoke coming from the home and alerted emergency personnel. The fire department and the police were summoned and Robinson’s partially burnt body found during cooling-down operations.
When our news team arrived on the scene, persons were seen holding their heads in disbelief.
A source revealed that the suspect left the home about two years ago and sought to return, but was rebuffed by Robinson-Lawrence.
“Yow di man deal wid the woman cold, you know. ... When mi come and see her, eye water run out mi eye,” the source said.
The family friend told The Gleaner that it was the daughter who heard the commotion and sounded an alarm. However, the suspect attacked her before escaping.
“The whole of the mattress burn up and the whole a di woman top up yah suh burn off. The little daughter did deh pon di back when it a gwaan and come round and him buss up her face,” the friend said.
“She call her brother and tell dem a who do it, or else right now we would be here a speculate who involved. I am glad that she see him ‘cause dem know him good.”
A senior policeman told The Gleaner that the woman was found dead in a polo top and did not have on any underwear.
“An autopsy would have to be conducted to conclude if she was raped. Her feet and hands were also bound behind her,” said the policeman, who requested that his identity be withheld because he was not authorised to speak to the press.
The weapon believed to have been used in the crime was also found wrapped in a cloth at the scene.
An investigator theorised that the suspect climbed over the fence of a nearby church and gained entry to the house.
The St Andrew North police are appealing to him to turn himself in to the nearest police station.